THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

SPP 556MACROECONOMICS

SYLLABUSWinter 2004, Alan DeardorffRevised 3/18/04

SUBJECT:

This course deals with the behavior of the major economy-wide (or "aggregate") economic variables, such as the level and growth rate of GDP, unemployment, the price level and rate of inflation, the rate of interest, the exchange rate, the trade deficit and the government budget deficit. The purpose of the course is to provide an analytical framework that will enable students to make sense of these economic aggregates. It is important to know not just what they mean and how they are measured, but also how they relate to each other and how they are determined in a market-oriented economy like that of the United States. This in turn will bring us to important issues of economic policy, and the extent to which such policies can and should be used to influence these variables, especially in the context of the interdependent world economy.

Prerequisite:

There is no formal prerequisite for this course. However, all students from The Ford School will have had SPP 555 or 559, Microeconomics, or equivalent before taking this course, and other students would be well advised to have some background in microeconomics before
attempting it.

This book is or soon will be available from the usual bookstores around campus. (Be careful to get the right one. I am also teaching Econ 102, Principles of Macroeconomics, using another text by Mankiw from a different publisher. Be sure you get the right one.)

Also required are a few short readings, accessible on the World Wide Web. Links to them are provided here (click on "online") for you to view on line or download and print. Hard copies of these readings will be on reserve in the Foster Library, and they will also be available in a coursepack from Grade A Notes, in Ulrichs Bookstore, sold at the Michigan Union Bookstore, for those who wish to buy them. A few additional readings from the Web will probably be added during the term, and these will not be available other than online.

Finally, you will also be expected to keep up with the current news that is related to macroeconomics, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Forms for subscribing will be available during the first few classes, at a cost of $34.95 for 15 weeks. You sign up here, and they will bill you later. I indicate below the ways that we will use the Journal, but these include uses for which you will need to have your own copies of the paper and/or access to the Journal online that come
s with your subscription. Therefore a subscription to both the print and electronic versions of the Journal is required for the course.

The GSI for the course is Priya Naik. She will hold regular office hours as follows:

Office: Oakland Annex, Rm 260

Hours:

Tuesdays 4:30-6:30 PM

My office and office hours this term are as follows:

Office:

458 Lorch:

Phone: 764-6817

Hours:

General:

Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00 AM

General:

Thursdays, 3:00-4:00 PM

SPP 556:

Tuesdays, 11:00-12:00 AM

I will be glad to talk with you during these times without an appointment, or at other times with an appointment. Also, feel free to stop by unannounced whenever my door is ajar. If I'm busy, I'll say so; if not, I'll be glad to talk to you.

E-mail

Priya Naik and I will be available by e-mail, and we will be glad to answer questions there. Our e-mail addresses are listed below:

You should look there for extra copies of anything that has been handed out, such as homework assignments and answers. There will also be a place on that site reporting questions that students have asked me by e-mail and the answers that I gave them.